Athletic headgear



. March 31,1942.

' R. v. "ROBERTS ATHLETIC HEADGEAR:

Filed Dec. 9, 1940 tions of the head to effectively retain the Patented Mar. 31, 1942 uw reo STATES PATENT OFFICE ATHLETIC HEADG-EAR Raymond V. Roberts, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Application December 9, 1940, Serial No. 369,335

Claims. (01. 2-3) This invention relatesto new and useful improvements in athletic head gear.

The primary object of this invention is to provide head gear which may be worn by amateur wrestlers and boxers, as well as professionals during training periods, to protect their cars from the battering blows which so frequently cause the ears to become permanently enlarged and deformed, or, in the vernacular of the mat and ring, to become cauliflower cars.

A further object of the invention is to pro-- vide head gear which includes guards that com- .pletely cover the ears of the wearer and retaining bands which cooperate with different porguards in place.

Still another object of the invention is to provide head gear of the above mentioned type which may be used without subjecting the Wearer to any discomfort or without in any way interfering with his hearing, seeing, and breathing faculties.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a perspective View illustrating the manner of application of the head gear to the wearers head,

Figure 2 is a detail elevational view of one of the two car guards, and

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of this invention, in the various figures, the reference character 5 designates in its entirety an ear guard which forms a part of this improved form of head gear. Fig. 1 shows the two guards of the complete gear and the manner in which the two guards are retained in place by the various head bands so that both ears of the wearer will be protected.

The guard illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 and 3 will be fully described in connection with these figures. It will be understood that both guards are of the same construction and differ from each other only to the extent of being adapted to cover right and left ears. Each guard will include a main body portion which consists of a concavo-convex main portion 6 with an angularly arranged marginal flange 7. All portions of this marginal flange are arranged in a single plane. Figs. 1 and. 2 clearly disclose the main portion 6 as being provided with a straight front edge part 8 while the remainder of its edge is of arcuate formation, as is designated by the reference character 9. The marginal flange I 'has a contour which corresponds with the edge of the main part 6, i. e., a straight edge portion ll) and anarcuate edge portion |l.. Ventilating apertures l2 are formed in the main part 6 so that a dead air space will not be formed within this main part of the ear guard. These apertures additionally will permit sound to more readily reach the wearers ears, which are covered by the guards. These main bodies of the ear guards may be formed either of a light weight aluminum alloy or of any plastic material which will possess suflicient strength when molded in the'desired shape and when having approximately the thickness illustrated in Fig. 3.

To protect the wearer from being injured by the edges of the main body portion of the guard or by the securing means which will be described at a later point, the marginal edge has applied thereto a pad I3. Fig. 3 clearly illustrates this pad as being of U-shape, or channel-shaped, in section. This pad completely encloses the edges ID and II of the flange and completely covers both faces of said flange. This pad may be formed either of soft rubber or of any other suitable, soft material, such as felt. The various figures disclose this pad as being secured to the marginal flange I of the guard body by means of rivets M which pass through the said marginal flange and the outer half or ply of the pad. The inner half or ply of the pad, therefore, prevents the inner ends of these securing devices M from injuring the wearer. It will be appreciated that the protecting pad may be retained in place by other securing means, such as by adhesives, by stitching the pad to the marginal flange, etc.

The two car guards are retained in place by a suitable number of properly arranged head and chin bands. The head bands form a network and. consist of the transverse forehead band IS, the transverse crown band l6, and the transverse nape band II. By inspecting Fig. 1, it will be seen that the forehead band is attached at its opposite ends to the marginal flanges 1 of the ear guards and extends across the forehead of the wearer. The crown band, likewise, is attached at its opposite ends to the marginal flanges of the two ear guards and extends over the crown of the wearers head. The nape band traverses the nape of the neck and is attached at its opposite ends to the marginal flanges of the ear guards. To retain these transverse bands IE to I1, inclusive, in proper spaced relation with respect to each other and to particularly prevent the forehead band l5 and the nape band H from slipping or working downwardly, a fore and aft band I8 is provided. The opposite ends of this band are attached to the forehead band l5 and the nape band [1. The intermediate portion of this fore and aft band [B is attached to the intermediate portion of the crown band l6. Rivets, or the like, l4 may be employed for attaching the fore and aft band to the several transverse bands. The rivets l4 previously referred to as being employed for attaching the pad l3 to its guard flange, also, may be employed for attaching the ends of the transverse bands I5 to H, inclusive, to the marginal flanges of the guards.

To prevent the guards from working upwardly or rearwardly, a chin band I9 is attached at its opposite ends to the marginal flanges of the two ear guards. The intermediate portion of this chin band is intended to pass below the chin of the wearer. A stay band 20 is associated with the intermediate portion of the chin band and has its opposite ends attached to the chin band by rivets, or the like, M. It will be seen by inspecting Fig. 1 that the stay band 20 and the intermediate portion of the chin band I9 cooperate with each other to form a loop that encircles the chin of the wearer.

When this head gear is properly applied, the guards 5 will completely cover the ears of the wearer and will prevent any blows from reachin the ears. The soft marginal pads l3 will cushion the blows delivered against the stiif, strong body parts 6 of the guards so that no permanent injury will be received by the wearer. The various head and chin bands will retain the guards in place even though the Wearers head, is subjected to rough treatment by the opponent. It is preferred that the various bands [5 to 20, inclusive, be formed of an elastic, fabric material, although other types of elastic materials may be employed.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. An ear guard for athletic head gear comprising a stiff body portion including a concavoconvex main part and a marginal flange .attached to the main part, said marginal flange lying in a single plane, a rubber member, of U-shape in section enclosing the marginal flange of the body portion by overlying the edge and the inner and outer faces thereof, and rivet means for attaching the rubber member to said marginal flange by passing through the flange and that portion only of the rubber member which overlies the outer face of the flange.

2. Athletic headgear of the type described comprising a pair of complementary ear covering guards, a network of positioning and retaining bands extending from said guards and adapted to traverse the head of the wearer, each of said ear covering guards embracing a concavo-convex main part and a marginal flange integral therewith, a pad of U-shape in section enclosing said marginal flange by overlying the edge and the inner and outer faces thereof, and rivets extending through said marginal flange, through the portion only of the pad which overlies the outer face of the marginal flange and through the ends of said positioning and retaining bands whereby said bands and pad are secured to said marginal flange and the wearer is protected from contact with said marginal flange and said rivets by that portion of the pad which overlies the inner face of the marginal flange.

RAYMOND V. ROBERTS. 

